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I often struggled as a jobseeker. 1. Why there is no consistency for hiring? 2. Why companies have to be so different in assessing values ? 3. Why standardiz

I often struggled as a jobseeker. 1. Why there is no consistency for hiring? 2. Why companies have to be so different in assessing values ? 3. Why standardized leetcode kind of problems? instead focus on creativity & unconventional thinking? etc.,

zug_zug 6y ago
2 - Because different companies do want entirely different people. Some managers want a quiet, obedient, polite, gentle, patient, effective-communicator who will never embarrass or break anything. Some managers want a self-starter genius who will solve an incredibly hard problem by himself without help (since he won't get any) and couldn't care less about anything else. Etc.
iwangulenko 6y ago
I will try to answer: >1. Why there is no consistency for hiring? Because there is no consistency in humans. Jobseekers lie to me all the time, so do companies. >2. Why companies have to be so different in assessing values ? Because companies consist of humans, which are inconsistent, see 1. >3. Why standardized leetcode kind of problems? instead focus on creativity & unconventional thinking? That is only a SF/Nyc/big tech thing. Normal firms here in Switzerland (or Europe) rarely do this. The big brand names do it because they can. Google et al. has a revolving door of applicants, so they can make them suffer. Also, if you show that you can study 3 months for an interview to balance a red black tree, you likely will do whatever the firm tells you to do. You likely will be a good worker! If you are full of creativity & unconventional thinking, being employed (especially in a big firm) isn't a good bet, start your own firm instead. I did exactly that because I suffered as an employee, not because of the work part, programming was great, but because of the being employed part, and this is how I became a self-employed tech recruiter. Btw. if you look for work or career tips, my email is in my HN handle.
- systemvoltage 6y ago
  > Google et al. has a revolving door of applicants, so they can make them suffer. Also, if you show that you can study 3 months for an interview to balance a red black tree, you likely will do whatever the firm tells you to do. You likely will be a good worker! Ehh, that's not what I've seen. Most engineers at Google I've met and interacted with, even worked with in the past who are now at Google - are absolutely, undisputedly and unarguably exceptional. Google is not your 1980's regimented company where the boss tells whatever and the employees just follow. I've seen that type of company culture more in Europe (esp Germany) and Japan than anywhere else. Google empowers their employees and the culture is right up there with creative and unconventional thinking. It's not as cool as it used to be but still good. Starting your own firm sometimes is a less creative endeavor. You're massively limited first and foremost with talent pool, experts and funding. At Google, you have one of the most rich environments for creativity - you've got funding, you have PMs, you have exceptional engineers all in great morale, all the resources to make you successful while getting paid well.
bobbydallas 6y ago
Think about it like developing a application. There are tons of choices- language, frameworks, backend, frontend, etc. All of these choices have limitations, costs, and aspects that can be compromised on. Everyone thinks their way is best. Their language is the best. Some times that grows and evolves. But often its purely built on your comfort and experience (or bias). Hiring is the exact same way.
- iwangulenko 6y ago
  Hiring is worse. Frameworks/programming languages at last have some logic to it. JavaScript is good for web, C good for hardware; humans are just random!

zug_zug 6y ago

2 - Because different companies do want entirely different people. Some managers want a quiet, obedient, polite, gentle, patient, effective-communicator who will never embarrass or break anything. Some managers want a self-starter genius who will solve an incredibly hard problem by himself without help (since he won't get any) and couldn't care less about anything else. Etc.

iwangulenko 6y ago

I will try to answer: >1. Why there is no consistency for hiring? Because there is no consistency in humans. Jobseekers lie to me all the time, so do companies. >2. Why companies have to be so different in assessing values ? Because companies consist of humans, which are inconsistent, see 1. >3. Why standardized leetcode kind of problems? instead focus on creativity & unconventional thinking? That is only a SF/Nyc/big tech thing. Normal firms here in Switzerland (or Europe) rarely do this. The big brand names do it because they can. Google et al. has a revolving door of applicants, so they can make them suffer. Also, if you show that you can study 3 months for an interview to balance a red black tree, you likely will do whatever the firm tells you to do. You likely will be a good worker! If you are full of creativity & unconventional thinking, being employed (especially in a big firm) isn't a good bet, start your own firm instead. I did exactly that because I suffered as an employee, not because of the work part, programming was great, but because of the being employed part, and this is how I became a self-employed tech recruiter. Btw. if you look for work or career tips, my email is in my HN handle.

systemvoltage 6y ago
> Google et al. has a revolving door of applicants, so they can make them suffer. Also, if you show that you can study 3 months for an interview to balance a red black tree, you likely will do whatever the firm tells you to do. You likely will be a good worker! Ehh, that's not what I've seen. Most engineers at Google I've met and interacted with, even worked with in the past who are now at Google - are absolutely, undisputedly and unarguably exceptional. Google is not your 1980's regimented company where the boss tells whatever and the employees just follow. I've seen that type of company culture more in Europe (esp Germany) and Japan than anywhere else. Google empowers their employees and the culture is right up there with creative and unconventional thinking. It's not as cool as it used to be but still good. Starting your own firm sometimes is a less creative endeavor. You're massively limited first and foremost with talent pool, experts and funding. At Google, you have one of the most rich environments for creativity - you've got funding, you have PMs, you have exceptional engineers all in great morale, all the resources to make you successful while getting paid well.

bobbydallas 6y ago

Think about it like developing a application. There are tons of choices- language, frameworks, backend, frontend, etc. All of these choices have limitations, costs, and aspects that can be compromised on. Everyone thinks their way is best. Their language is the best. Some times that grows and evolves. But often its purely built on your comfort and experience (or bias). Hiring is the exact same way.

iwangulenko 6y ago
Hiring is worse. Frameworks/programming languages at last have some logic to it. JavaScript is good for web, C good for hardware; humans are just random!